Can I Remain in Hong Kong as a Visitor After My Employment Visa Expires?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Visitor Visas, Your Question Answered / 2 responses

Can I Remain in Hong Kong as a Visitor After My Employment Visa Expires?

Simple question this one with an easy answer and indicative of the fact that, even though quite a straight forward issue, the information is not otherwise readily available anywhere else on the web.

QUESTION

I am a Canadian citizen, working in Hong Kong holding an employment visa for 7 weeks. I want to stay after my job is finished (work visa will expire at the same time) to see Hong Kong as a visitor, then travel to Macau and Thailand.

Do I need to have my visa changed from employment to visitor?

Thank you so much for your help.

ANSWER

At the time that your employment visa limit of stay is due to expire, if you don’t have the continuing rationale for remaining in Hong Kong as an employee because your contract has come to an end, in any event, it was just a short-term employment visa nonetheless.

Then for you to remain in Hong Kong as a visitor will not be problematic at all. But there will be a process that you need to go through in order to achieve this outcome. There are two ways to go about doing it. The first is to go down to the Immigration Department to the visitor extension section, wait probably three-quarters of a day and get yourself up to a maximum of possibly two-week visitor visa extension upon request of an immigration officer going through a visa extension process and they will readily grant you no doubt, a two-week extension to your present limit of stay converting you from an employment visa over to a visitor at that time.

So that should not be problematic at all but the real problem there, of course, is that it’s going to take a long time, it gets very busy and the visitor visa guys at the Immigration Department are under a lot of pressure. And you know they tend to be somewhat brusque in the way that they process such applicants, but you will get the extension so don’t worry about that.

Alternatively, and ideally what I would suggest that you do is on the final date of your current limit of stay as an employment visa holder, take in a sense the 11 o’clock evening ferry over to Macau. Arrive in Macao and come back from Macao into Hong Kong on the very next ferry which will bring you into Hong Kong on the next day – the day after your current limit of stay as an employment visa holder expires. And at the point of arrival, the immigration officer will only be able to grant you a visitor visa because that’s the only status that that will be open to you given that your employment visa will have expired the day before.

And as a Canadian national you will get a 90-day period of stay. And that’s the same for most Western nationalities such as most Europeans and also Americans for that matter. And at that point, you’ll be then granted the time that you need in Hong Kong to complete your final activities here as a visitor.

Okay, I hope this helps.

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If I Have Spent Less Than 180 Days In Hong Kong During The Last Three Years Will It Affect My Application For The Right of Abode?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Long Stay & PR, Your Question Answered / No responses

Less Than 180 Days in Hong Kong During the Last Three Years – Impact On PR Eligibility

What happens if you work for a Hong Kong company but are stationed the majority of your time outside of Hong Kong?

Less than 180 days in Hong Kong during the last three years – impact on PR eligibility?

The answer may be somewhat different from what might you expect, especially given the challenges Covid19 had on folks’ ability to spend time in Hong Kong under their residence visas.

QUESTION

I studied in Hong Kong for 4 years, and when I graduated, I got an offer from a Hong Kong company.

However, my assignment is in mainland China.

For the remaining 3 years, I stayed in mainland China most of time (which means my stay in Hong Kong is less than 180 days in the remaining 3 years).

Will it affect my application for Hong Kong PR?

Thanks for your help in advance!

ANSWER

Learn about the requirements for securing the right of abode in Hong Kong and the significance of spending less than 180 days in Hong Kong during the last three years. Understand the implications of maintaining a normal life and residency in Hong Kong to make a successful claim.

Introduction

Securing the right of abode in Hong Kong is a crucial step for anyone looking to establish long-term residency and enjoy the benefits that come with it. However, certain requirements need to be met, including a continuous ordinary residency of at least seven years.

Additionally, it is essential to understand the significance of spending less than 180 days in Hong Kong during the last three years, as this plays a vital role in proving your eligibility for the rights of abode.

Requirements for Securing the Right of Abode

To be eligible for the rights of abode in Hong Kong, one must have been continuously and ordinarily resident in Hong Kong for a period of not less than seven years.

This means that any absences from Hong Kong during this time must have been temporary. The immigration department evaluates the temporary nature of your absences based on the evidence of what you left behind in Hong Kong each time you travel abroad.

Being Settled in Hong Kong

Let’s analyze the presented facts.

You initially came to Hong Kong on a student visa and spent three or four years as a student before transitioning to employment with a Hong Kong employer.

Shortly after, you relocated to China for work, spending most of your time there.

However, there have been exceptions, with possibly 180 days spent in Hong Kong within the last three years.

When applying for the right of abode, it is crucial to demonstrate to the immigration department that you are clearly settled in Hong Kong.

Meeting the Approvability Test for Right of Abode

The immigration department looks for clear evidence of back-to-back residence visas to satisfy the approvability test for the rights of abode.

It can be assumed that after your student visa expired, you converted your status to an employment visa. This is positive, as an employment visa is considered a residency visa.

However, it is important to note that if you have not ordinarily resided in Hong Kong, it can pose a challenge to your claim, as you may be deemed to have ordinarily resided in China.

Assessing Time Spent in Hong Kong

To assess your eligibility for the right of abode, the immigration department will consider the amount of time you have spent in Hong Kong in the last three years. As mentioned previously, this timeframe should be less than 180 days.

Additionally, they will examine whether you have maintained a home or residence in Hong Kong and if you have had all the vestiges of a normal life in the city. The centre of your life needs to be clearly established in Hong Kong.

Implications of Permanent Absences from Hong Kong

If it is found that you have not maintained a normal life in Hong Kong, despite working for a Hong Kong employer, it may be difficult for you to claim that you have been ordinarily resident here. This could lead the immigration department to conclude that you have been ordinarily resident in China instead, even if you have a residence visa endorsed in Hong Kong.

Therefore, it is of utmost importance to have the necessary infrastructure and other vestiges of a normal ordinary life in Hong Kong to strengthen your claim.

Last Words …

Securing the right of abode in Hong Kong requires meeting specific requirements and demonstrating a normal life and residency in the city.

Spending less than 180 days in Hong Kong during the last three years is a significant factor in this process. It is crucial to maintain a home, employment, and other aspects of a normal life in Hong Kong to increase the chances of a successful claim.

If you have been primarily living and working in China and only visiting Hong Kong infrequently for work purposes, it may prove challenging to obtain the right of abode.

Therefore, it is essential to carefully consider the implications of your choices and circumstances when pursuing this claim.

Good luck with your application for the rights of abode in Hong Kong, and we wish you all the very best in establishing your residency here!

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Can I Extend The 3 Years Needed To Keep My Right of Abode In Hong Kong?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Feature Article, Long Stay & PR, Musing, VG Front Page / 82 responses

Can I Extend The 3 Years Needed To Keep My Right of Abode In Hong Kong?

Will ImmD Make An Exception For Me?

 

Can I extend the 3 years needed to keep my Right of Abode in Hong Kong? I originally published this video in January 2022, when we were very much ‘peak Covid’ in Hong Kong. I shot the video in response to dozens of emails each week from permanent residents who had been absent or were coming up for being absent from Hong Kong continuously for three years because of the pandemic.

Can You?

The question essentially amounts to this.

Can the Immigration Department make an exception for those foreign nationals who originally secured permanent residency after seven years of continuous ordinary residence, but for one reason or another, find themselves away from Hong Kong during the pandemic for an extended period of three years?

Namely, any chance of them being able to get some sort of waiver or other dispensation due to the challenges that COVID is bringing to everyone’s ability to get back to Hong Kong quarantine-free?

Unfortunately, the Director of Immigration doesn’t have the power to waive the one-in-3-year rule as the Right of Abode is an instrument of the Basic Law.

This means that unless and until as a permanent resident in Hong Kong, the foreign national permanent resident of Hong Kong you have been physically present in Hong Kong on at least one occasion in any three-year given period, you will be by operation of law automatically downgraded to the Right to Land if you are unable to get back here for the one in three-year criteria.

There is an occasional exception where the absence is involuntary, such as imprisonment or extended hospitalization.

So what does the loss of Right of Abode after 3 years mean in real terms?

Well, actually, the Right to Land downgrade that occurs, while sits, you know, disappointing in order to say something positive about that bottom line is that the rights that accompany the right time, that’s the right to work, the right to respond to family members who are dependent loses the right to sponsor, elderly parents who depend on these as some of the other rights that accrue with the Right of Abode are not lost.

You do not have the right not to be deported, but you can’t be removed from Hong Kong.

Functionally, the Right to Land is the same as the Right of Abode, albeit you can be deported.

The difference for the most part practically falls to whether or not as a permanent resident holding the Right of Abode you can qualify for things like the scheme HKD6000 and other free money giveaways that the government occasionally avails to Hong Kong to permanent residents.

It’s those types of things but in a very pure practical sense, if you are downgraded to the right to land essentially it means you can come back to Hong Kong at any point in the process and pick up your life from wherever you left it off.

You don’t need any permission from the Hong Kong Immigration Department to do that.

Seven years of continuous residence later, you can then subsequently apply for Right of Abode once again.

 

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How Important Is A Good Set Of Financial Projections In A Hong Kong Business Investment Visa Application?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Investment Visas, Your Question Answered / No responses

Business Investment Visa Application | Financials You Will Need To Show To ImmD

What’s Required?

 

ImmD expect to be able to take a view of a proposed new from 39,000 feet and for this a good set of financial projections are expected to form part of a business investment visa application.

QUESTION

Does the Immigration Department look for forecasts for profitability and actually estimates of employee hiring?

I have written in my business plan a general outline of positions I intend to hire, and some initial support staff in the first year, but this is in a description format rather than a list.

Welcome your thoughts and many thanks!

ANSWER

The very quick answer to this question is that yes the Immigration department does look to see how the fortunes of your business over the coming three years will fair and obviously to that end you need to include a forecast for profitability.

And included inside your forecast for profitability in the three years’ numbers that you put together will be indications of the hires that you expect to bring on board, clearly what you’re hoping to or expecting to pay them. And when in the three years they will factor into the recruitment mix.

So, in your plan it’s fine that you’ve described when you think these recruitments are going to occur and what they’re going to look like, but more importantly you really should encapsulate the projected financial performance on all heads in a good set of three year financials.

We use a standard template that we supplied to our clients to allow them to go about producing this set of financial so I’m pleased to include this template that’s part to this post for you and your use.

Okay, I hope you find this useful.

 

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I Have Been Made Redundant But My Wife is Working – Can We Swap Our Hong Kong Employment and Spouse Visas Around So I Can Become Her Dependant in Hong Kong?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Your Question Answered / 13 responses

Hong Kong Employment and Spouse Visas – Can You Swap?

First Published February 27, 2013

How Flexible Is The Hong Kong Immigration Department?

It’s a situation that seems to happen all too frequently these days, especially in the banking sector. Can a married couple, both working, effectively swap their Hong Kong employment and spouse visas around?

QUESTION

Thank you for all your insight to the working of the Hong Kong Immigration Department that I find very useful.

I do have one question regarding my situation:

I have an employment visa valid till 10 June 2013. I have been made redundant from the job that sponsored this visa and currently am not working.

My wife has a dependant visa also valid till 10 June 2013.

She is working for a major US international insurance concern with a big operation here.

Her salary is HKD25,000 per month with MPF,  a 13th month bonus and an extraordinary HKD25,000 bonus paid usually paid in December.

I have a small pension from my home country of HKD 5,000 monthly.

We intend to ask that her dependent visa be converted to an employment visa and mine from an employment visa to a dependent visa.

My wife is a Singaporean, she has a US work visa (expired) and a UK business visa stamped in her passport.

Do you think Immigration will likely grant this change and should I submit my request for a dependent visa with her employment visa at the same time , or wait till her employment visa is granted and then request my dependent visa.

I am a citizen of Austria.

Thanks for all your feedback and great work on your web site.

 

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Will My Hong Kong Employment Visa be Compromised If I Leave My Job Due to Intolerable Working Conditions?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Your Question Answered / No responses

Hong Kong Employment Visa Lost If You Have a Terrible Boss & Want To Leave?

What’s The Risk To Your Hong Kong Employment Visa?

Should you be worried that your employment visa status in Hong Kong might be undermined if you choose to leave the employ of an unsavoury employer?

QUESTION

Hello, my current employer and visa sponsor is a small business, and my working conditions are intolerable – twice the amount of hours than stated on the contract, poor pay, fines for sick days off and unexplained additional fines deducted from my salary without notice nor explanation, plus late payment of salary.

I have been with them for seven months and paid to get here myself.

They have also asked me to lie to the inland revenue to say my contract started two months after it did – because it took me two months to get a free day to go to Macau and activate my visa.

It’s all very shabby.

Three other similar staff have ‘left in the night’ because there is a HK$25,000 fee to leave the contract (plus work two months unpaid, and pay another undisclosed fee for leaving without serving two months notice).

I have another company who will sponsor me and I would like to know if I can release my sponsorship with my present employer myself, or do they have the power to refuse the release and transfer of my visa to another company?

Can they stop me working anywhere else if I walk?

I can not continue working in these conditions, but I do not want to leave Hong Kong and I have other employers waiting.

Am I trapped please?

Thank you very much in advance for any advice you can give.

ANSWER

Not being an employment lawyer I can’t offer any comment as to your remedies for the seemingly intolerable situation you find yourself in.

As regards your employment contract with your current employer I suggest that you contact the Labor Department for some provisional information on how to deal with the problems that you’re facing in that employment.

Or indeed obviously contact an employment lawyer. However, in so far as immigration goes you’re on the pretty much safe ground in so far as if you determine for one reason or another that you wish to cease working for your current employer and you wish to make an application to take up employment with a new employer, then that’s all perfectly doable.

The Immigration Department doesn’t hold you to any particular employer and the employment visa is personable to you. It doesn’t accrue to the employer so your current employer has no means of in a sense holding a gun to your head as regards your ability to stay in Hong Kong due to the fact that you no longer want to work in those intolerable working conditions.

As part and parcel of any employment visa change of sponsorship application for that’s what it would be, you’d have to submit a copy of your resignation letter or possibly a document in writing from your current employer indicating when your exact final date of employment while so that the Immigration Department can demarcate your old employment through to your new employment and adjust the sponsorship of your visa accordingly.

As long as you’re moving from one employment type to a similar employment type that is it’s like for like employment and that the minimum salary and compensation levels are being met under the general employment policy – give or take about sixteen thousand Hong Kong dollars a month. And of course, your new employer, proposed new employer is deemed by the Immigration Department to be a suitable and credible sponsor.

Then in those circumstances, your immigration status should be readily adjustable without too much of a do.

So, no you and you’re not locked into this particular employer and if you want to leave, do so. Address whatever problems you’ve got from the contract perspective through the use of the proper channels. But in so far as immigration goes you’ll be more than capable of making that adjustment if for immigration sponsorship without too many problems at all.

Okay, good luck with it all and I hope you found this useful.

 

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Will Vocational Rather Than Academic Qualifications Satisfy ImmD When Making a Hong Kong Work Visa Application?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Uncategorized, Your Question Answered / No responses

Hong Kong Work Visa

Is A Degree An Absolute Pre-Requisite?

Is it always absolutely necessary to call upon a university degree qualification in order to get a Hong Kong work visa application approved?

QUESTION

I have found a job here and am now in the process of applying for a Hong Kong work visa.

It is a Quality Assurance position in the garment business.

My qualification  (garment / fashion design) is from a French polytechnique which is vocational and not academic in nature.

I have 20 years of professional experience which I can readily prove with letters of references etc.

Further I am French and hence can speak French which is necessary because my employer is a French joint-venture company.

I heard that an academic degree is necessary for a Hong Kong work visa and that applications can be rejected for that reason.

Is there anything that can be done to maximize the chances to get the Hong Kong work visa all things considered?

In case of a rejection, is there a possibility to apply again?

ANSWER

In order to be deemed a professional for the purposes of the general employment policy in Hong Kong, which is the policy under which the Immigration Department issue employment visas to foreign nationals, there is an expectation that you will be a university degree holder with at least 2 years post-graduation working experience in the managerial or supervisory capacity to expect approval as I say as a professional.

However, on occasion if you don’t have formal degree qualifications but you have something less than a degree, say technical qualifications, then the Immigration Department will accept those technical qualifications in lieu of a degree qualification, if your post qualification working experience is at least 5 years as opposed to 2 under the degree, so that’s 5 years for technical qualifications.

So, given that you appear to have technical qualifications in garment and fashion design, and you have got 20 years of professional experience thereafter, it’s fair to say that the Immigration Department will certainly treat you as a professional for the purposes of the general employment policy, and on the basis that your job offer is coming from a suitable and credible sponsor, and that the compensation that’s being offered to you is broadly commensurate with market rates for a position such as that which has been offered to you, and the amount of experience that you have being commensurate with the pay that you’re receiving again for that work that you’re going to be doing, then the Immigration Department won’t refuse your visa on the strength of the nature of your qualifications in your circumstances, so, I won’t worry about that too much.

And in terms of rejection what I’ve done to answer your question is included a number of links at the bottom of this post which speak to the arrangements that you can follow if unfortunately, your visa doesn’t get approved after you’ve applied for it.

Okay I hope you found that useful.

 

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